Search - Chambers Brothers :: Time Has Come

Relive this Soulful Classic: ****1/2

B. Niedt | Cherry Hill, NJ United States | 08/05/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I never listened to this album all the way through until I spotted it in a used record store recently. I've always been a fan of "Time Has Come Today", one of the first really long tracks to get heavy airplay on the burgeoning FM-rock stations of the late 60's, and this band's version of "In the Midnight Hour" just about out-performs Wilson Pickett's. But listening to the whole package really gives you a feel for how soulful and vocally accomplished this group really was. A five-man ensemble consisting of four brothers (you'll be able to pick out the one who's not), they cut their teeth on gospel and never lost that heritage. Just listen to their version of Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" (again, a version that almost outdoes the original) and you'll agree. The rest of the album consists mostly original songs by the brothers, except for "Uptown" and Bachrach/David's "What the World Needs Now is Love". Because of the timelessness of gospel music, this 1967 album is not nearly as dated as you might think, though the title track is, of course, definitely a product of the times, with hippy-trippy engineering (has anyone ever used so much echo and cowbell in a song?) that's still kind of fun to hear. (Accept no substitute for the original - any "greatest hits" package of this band that contains the inferior radio-single of the song is grossly mislabeled.) The 2000 Sony Records release also contains four bonus songs including an early version of the title track and a radio promo for the album. If you remember these guys, visit this album again and remind yourself how great they were. If you don't, give it a listen - to paraphrase the brothers, maybe your soul will get psychdelicized."